


Trust

by cpheroux



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Edward Nygma - Freeform, First Kiss, Gay, Gotham, Love, M/M, Nygmobblepot, Oswald Cobblepot - Freeform, edwald, pengler, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-08-27 02:12:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8384008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cpheroux/pseuds/cpheroux
Summary: Oswald leaves a party he had been attending because someone made him reconsider how important his life actually is. As he's about to get the job done, Edward comes up and reacts before the life-ending attempt actually happens. Much love, some kisses, happy ending. Enjoy reading!





	1. Chapter 1

Oswald had known winter before, but its weather was nothing compared to the coldness he felt on the inside. He just wanted to go home. But where was home, now? Was it the dusty remains of his deceased mother’s place? The wealthy, but empty house that was left behind by an absent father he barely knew? The large manor he used to run his business? The now rented apartment Edward used to live in?

No where. He felt home _nowhere_. 

No warm place to go after a long day of work. Nobody to talk about his day or ask about theirs. No children nor family to come home to. A whole life full of nothingness. Was it even worth having struggled to live all this time during the past years? Was he even really alive?

The chills in his body felt very real. The tears rolling down his cheeks and freezing on his chin felt real, too. The cold breeze of the sea felt like a slap on his face.

He closed his eyes. Listened to the waves crashing against the dock.

He didn’t know why he had chosen to come here of all places. 

…or maybe he did.

It was here that Jim had saved his life a few years ago. Remembering the coldness of the water made him shudder wildly. He allowed his watery eyes to flutter open in a slow motion. 

What if Jim had put the gun on his head instead?

The noise of pulling a trigger had decreased his hearing in the right ear a little. Only a little, but for a music lover like him, it was noticeable at all time.

Oswald felt quite miserable right now. He had left the party he was attending after someone had made a comment about how great his rich kid’s life must be, about how it must be fun to look down at other people with this condescending gaze of him.

While everybody saw him storm out of the place, Edward was the only one to have noticed that his friend had left his coat here despite the freezing weather. It took him less than a second to react, but during the time it took for him to fetch his own coat, Oswald had already gotten out of sight. 

Although he disliked winter, Edward was relieved to find footsteps in the snow. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat, he started to follow the path in the street, always making sure to track the pointy footprints and not ordinary ones.

It took him a few minutes to reach the destination, but only one millisecond to realize what Oswald was planning to do when he saw him stand on the edge of the dock.

Oswald thought he’d heard his name in the background. Thought he’d felt the vibration of a quick footpace stomping against the creaking wood.

But did it really happen?

His body felt numb. Mind was fogged. Eyesight blurred. 

Eyes closed, he didn’t realize he had been holding his breath for that long until he felt a strong pair of arms yank him backward. His eyes flew open and he took a long, deep intake of breath when his back collapsed against Edward’s chest. 

‘’Please, don’t,’’ the tall brunet murmured as Oswald’s legs started to give out under him. He held his friend upright, his heart sinking when he heard Oswald sob deeply, his small, tightly clenched fists weakly hitting Edward’s forearms in a poor attempt at breaking free. He ended up letting out a strained and desperate cry, wheezing a little as he tried to force out his voice.

‘’I’ve got you,’’ Edward whispered softly against the back of Oswald’s head, the warmth of his breath triggering a different kind of reaction from the shorter man, one that didn’t seem to be negative. 

Suddenly realizing what he almost did to himself, Oswald’s senses started to come back to normal one after the other, especially when he felt the cold bite of winter freeze him down to the bones. He started to seek for more of this welcome warmth, pressing his body against Edward’s chest even if he somehow also wanted him to leave.

‘’You don’t want to die, Oswald,’’ the brunet started, tightening his grip around his dearest friend. ‘’You just want to stop hurting,’’ he added, carefully choosing every single one of his words in case he’d say something he shouldn’t. 

Oswald’s reaction was instant. He started to cling to Edward’s arms as if his life depended on it, nodding slightly as if he was agreeing with what his wise friend was telling him. Yes, it was true. He didn’t want to die. He knew there was a lot more to see, to discover, to feel… 

But _feeling_ , oh, Christ, was it painful. 

As Oswald tried to turn around in his grip, Edward immediately understood what his friend was expecting from him. ‘’Hold on,’’ he told him as he loosened his embrace for a short while, just long enough to unzip his coat. ‘’Here,’’ he breathed out shakily as he felt the wind against his chest. He took Oswald’s hands and joined them behind his back to give him a hint, which the man got automatically. He clung to him like a little monkey to its mother, wrapping his arms around Edward’s thin frame.

Edward sighed through his nose and covered Oswald with each side of his oversized coat. He felt his friend bury his face into the crook of his neck, seeking comfort and warmth from the man he trusted the most. Edward pulled Oswald into a tender embrace and held him close. Even though he regretted not wearing gloves, he dealt with the coldness of the winter.

‘’Hang in there,’’ Edward murmured soothingly as he pressed his cheek against Oswald’s forehead affectionately. 

…

Edward couldn’t tell how long it took until Oswald stopped shaking uncontrollably. As always, the brunet felt the need to lighten the mood as he couldn’t handle the heaviness of the silence. ‘’I’m not going to nurse you if you catch a cold,’’ he tried.

He felt Oswald smile against his skin. ‘’Yes, you will.’’

Relieved that it seemed to have worked, Edward smiled softly and he pulled away slightly, just enough to be table to look into Oswald’s now open eyes. ‘’Yes, I will. You know me too well.’’

Their proximity seemed to strike both of them at the exact same moment. The corners of Oswald’s lips twitched into a nervous smile. So did Edward’s. 

And they stared at teach other for a long moment, their eye contact never ending except when they were blinking.

The silence lasted nearly for half a minute. 

‘’I’m not the only one to think about doing this, am I?’’ Edward asked in an undertone. 

Oswald knew that what Edward was referring to was a comfort kiss. The brunet wasn’t _that_ oblivious – he had noticed how his friend had been acting around him, trying to tell him something but always forgetting for some reasons. The forensic investigator, not quite connected to his own emotions, didn’t know what to think of the situation. Didn’t know what to do, nor what should be done. 

When he saw Oswald press his lips together and shake his head slightly as a response, he noticed the blood rising to his cheeks despite the darkness – given the paleness of the man’s skin, the contrast was quite easy to perceive.

As for Oswald, he hoped that Edward would think he was flushed red because of the coldness.

‘’Do you think this is a good idea?’’ Edward asked in a whisper, immediately regretting his own question when Oswald’s eyes started to water after a few seconds.

Determined not to blink his tears away, Oswald kept his eyes open and planted his gaze into Edward’s, teeth clenched and lips pursed a little. Slowly, he shook his head once more to answer the question. The saline water ended up spilling over his eyelids even with all the effort to keep them in. But the moonlight was beaming in his bright irises, which made it all too obvious to see the glimmering beads of sadness soaking through his long eyelashes. 

Edward swallowed down thickly and his gaze darted down at Oswald’s lips swiftly. ‘’You can have me, but cannot hold me. Gain me and quickly lose me.’’

Oswald wasn’t at all in the mood for riddles, but he had learned, despite his hatred for those riddles he could never find the answers to, that Edward’s always seemed to be using them for reasons – to speak out what he couldn’t find the courage to tell. So he listened. 

‘’If treated with care, I can be great. But if betrayed, I will break.’’

The shorter man screwed his eyes shut for a second, trying to come back to his senses, his fists tightening around Edward’s shirt. ‘’Trust,’’ he breathed out after a shaky sigh. 

Edward smiled ever so slightly. For once, Oswald had made the effort to listen. ‘’Do you trust me?’’ he murmured as he leant closer slightly, both men now having to look down because of how close their faces were to each other’s.

Oswald felt Edward’s breath on his lips and it made his eyes flutter shut instantly, feeling a wild shiver running down his spine and creating a pool of an unfamiliar warmth in his groin. Keeping his mouth opened slightly to allow out his uneven breathing, Oswald nodded without hesitation.

Edward mimicked Oswald’s gesture, but slightly less precisely. So many things were spinning around in his head as he moved closer to the other man. He knew that Oswald had never shared anything with anyone; never held hands, never been touched intimately, never been kissed. He knew all of this. They had talked about it when they had had too much to drink. 

But most of all, he knew that it could either strengthen their relationship or _greatly_ mess it up.

It stopped him half way, but it didn’t stop Oswald. 

As soon as he felt like Edward was about to pull away, the first thing he did was to bring his hands up, leaving the warmth of the man’s back to cup his face instead. While one of his hands slid to the back of Edward’s neck, his other one held the base of the brunet’s jaw and brought him closer gently.

There was no straining coming from the taller man.

Oswald breathed in through his nose when he felt his friend’s lips against his own. His eyes were completely closed, now, and he let out a quivering breath as his fingers tangled themselves into Edward’s thick hair. 

Edward remained still. Frozen. Completely taken aback, flabbergasted at how surprisingly right it felt. No strange feeling of awkwardness. No friend-alarm-thought telling him that this was too much, that the line had been crossed. Everything Edward thought would happen… didn’t happen at all.

It was a simple, soft, lingering closed-lips kiss. But _God_ how this kiss was speaking.

Oswald made a small noise, a tiny sound of contentment that was strangely similar to a moan. It wasn’t sexual, didn’t seem like it. 

After approximately ten seconds, Edward made his first attempt at deepening the kiss. While he knew how it worked, thanks to Miss Kringles, Oswald had no idea how to proceed and it stressed him out a little. ‘’Trust me,’’ the brunet whispered against his lips, which made Oswald’s legs go numb for a moment. 

The shorter man chose to go with the flow.

He parted his lips slightly, captured Edward’s between his own smoothly. The taller man sighed contentedly and pressed into the kiss a little more, feeling his heart pumping his blood downward at an incredibly fast pace.

So Oswald did that again. 

Edward responded automatically, instinctively bringing one of his hands over Oswald’s cheek, and it was with a startle that the shorter man reminded him of how cold it was. 

‘’Sorry,’’ Edward whispered as his lips stretched into a nervous smile, pulling away only to look down at the other man.

Oswald’s mind was far too cloudy to allow a single coherent word out of his mouth, therefore he chose to remain silent and he gave a silly grin. 

Edward batted his eyelashes at the adorable person stranding in front of him, cocking his head to the side and smiling tenderly at him. ‘’Let’s go home,’’ he murmured. 

Oswald, breathing shakily, nodded slightly and blinked a few times as Edward proceeded to take off his coat and put it on his shoulders. 

It was only then that he realized how wrong he had been all along. There _was_ someone to come home to, somewhere warm to go back at the end of a long day of work.

Everywhere he’d go, long as his beloved friend was there.

_Edward was home._


	2. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just in case it wasn't obvious - the sequel is over here!

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8437450

**Author's Note:**

> The sequel is 'Touch', which you can find in my other works!


End file.
